Harvesting & Transitions: Powerful Exercises + Questions to Begin Reclaiming Your Life

It's harvest season — a time of transition, where we reap what we have sown and gather the bounty that nature provides for our efforts. Farmers' markets overflow with beautiful nourishment, and children bubble over with excitement (or anxiety) as they head back to school. Summer slowly waves goodbye, while autumn takes her place.

The seasons — and their accompanying activities — act as mirrors for what happens inside of us. September brings a distinct inner sense of transition, and if we get very still, we can feel it.

Transitions — those moments when we are in-between, no longer where we've been, but not yet where we're going — are fertile ground for growth… provided we know how to use them.

And when it comes to these transitions and harvesting what's been sown, it's important to realize that there are two types of harvesting: profitable harvesting and detrimental harvesting.

Profitable harvesting is simple enough. But detrimental harvesting needs some explanation.

How Negative Thoughts Barge In

Let's do a thought experiment to look at an important micro-moment of transition where detrimental harvesting can manifest.

Imagine yourself standing at the sink, picking up a wet fork off the drying rack. You pick it up, wipe it off with a dishtowel, turn to the silverware drawer, carefully place it in its slot, then turn back to pick up the next item.

In that precise moment of turning back, you are in transition. You are no longer the one who placed the fork, and not yet the one who will pick up the next dish.

I know this might seem insignificant, but stay with me. There's far more going on in these mundane transitions than it now seems.

These are the moments where we are vulnerable to "attention loss" or "attention harvesting." And there's a tremendous opportunity here to reclaim our life.

In these ever-so-brief transitions, our mind identifies what's coming up next (grab the next dish), then, without realizing what we're opening ourselves up to, we leave our mind unattended. In those tiny moments of inattention, we inadvertently allow our attention to be harvested and used for all manner of debilitating, unconscious thinking.

And it all happens in an instant!

We come out of that transition, and suddenly we find ourselves consumed by thoughts about a news story we saw earlier in the day. Without knowing that it's happened, we fall into anxiety and start rushing through the rest of the dishes.

In the next transition, we're reminded about tomorrow's deadline and we tense up, dread floods our system, and we slam the silverware drawer.

Then in the next transition, we remember the insult our third-grade teacher once hurled at us in front of the class, and we fall under the spell of reliving the experience over and over again.

Just like that, our energy gets harvested — siphoned off into the ether.

This is what we mean by detrimental harvesting.

How to Stand Guard Over Those Moments of Transition

Next time, try this instead: as you move from placing the fork in the drawer to turning back for the next dish, cut your speed in half. See if you can keep your mind present in the transition. If you work to hold your attention, you can actually feel your energy grow.

This is how you move from being harvested... to harvesting.

Why Does This Matter?

It's just dishes, right?

What's important to realize is that, in moments of transition, your mind becomes highly susceptible to unconscious self-suggestion.

And here's the kicker: it doesn't take much. It can be a thought, a memory, a sound, a smell — anything at all.

A thought about the news gets triggered and suddenly you're worrying about the state of the world.

The smell of cookies in the oven sparks a childhood memory, and you become captured inside the theater of the mind.

A glance at a photo on the wall plunges you into the pain of remembering happier times long gone.

That's why it's so tricky to remain present. There is so much that can capture our attention — and each time it does, our energy drains.

Steering the Mind

So, just as you would steer a car, a team of horses, or an ox pulling a plow, you must consciously steer the mind to keep it on course. Otherwise, every bump in the road knocks it aside.

When you notice yourself off course — lost in thought, not present — gently take hold of the reins. Come back. In doing so, you can feel your energy regather. This is the real harvest.

You might also pause to reflect: I was present, and then I wasn't. Why? How was my attention stolen? Why did I follow that errant thought?

There's No Such Thing as a Throw-Away Moment!

I've found that when my will isn't consciously directed toward presence, I am easily lost. My attention is easily stolen. I am at an attention deficit because I am not in possession of my attention.

Intention changes this. If I don't consciously choose where my mind goes, something else will — and it will use my attention for its own purposes, its own harvest.

Which means: there really isn't a moment that doesn't matter. That small transition — turning back to the sink — is just as important as the "big" ones.

Every moment is sowing the seed of the next. And every moment is the harvest. We are constantly sowing and reaping — consciously or unconsciously.

So as the world grows louder, angrier, more polarized, and more desperate to harvest your attention, ask yourself: Who is doing the harvesting? Am I reaping the benefits of my attention, or is something else?

Where attention goes, energy flows. Let's explore that this week.

✨ Journal Prompts

• What tends to steal my attention most?

• What happens in the moment I take my attention back? What do I become? How do I change?

• What emotions, feelings, or story-lines are most prevalent when my attention is stolen?

• What moments of transition can I find throughout the day where I can work extra diligently to retain or reclaim my attention?

✨ Mindful Intention Experiment

Set a reminder on your phone or use a timer to pause three times each day this week. Place your hand on your heart and ask:

Where was my attention? Am I in possession of it or is something else? What is moving in me right now?

Notice whatever arises — a sensation, a word, an emotion, a phrase, a demand, even silence — and let it reveal its true character.